Have you ever been on the phone, endlessly, with a customer service rep who is just so, so, so…negative?

Of course you have. In this day in age you’d have to be living in a mountain shack with no electricity, let alone wifi, to not have had such an experience.

If you live in Canada, particularly BC, and you own a cel phone you’ll know about Rogers and Telus. There’s a big rivalry here between these 2 giant cellular providers. People become loyal to one or the other and will go on and on about why theirs is better.

I get it, customer loyalty is a good thing. In fact, without it companies find themselves with declining sales and morale.

That’s why I have, over the last 3 years, been consistently amazed at the horrible service I have received at the Tsawwassen Rogers Mobility outlet. Now, to be clear, these outlets are not owned by Rogers despite the crazy amount of branding inside and out. They run independently of the parent company and, as such, do not seem to be at all culpable for their behaviour.

I would consider this a win/win for Rogers. A. they get their names branded all over the place and B. they don’t have to accept any sort of responsibility for dreadful store owners or employees.

Years ago I was a Rogers customer. At the end of my term I went into the Tsawwassen store to get on a new 3 year plan and get a Blackberry. Even though the BB Pearl was free with my service plan I opted not to take on their package.

Why?

They were rude. Really rude. So rude, in fact, that I was actually appalled and sent off a missive to Rogers. (fat lotta good that did)

Unfortunately the company I worked for had a friends and family deal through Rogers and I had, previous to the end of my contract, signed my daughter up for a phone. I say “unfortunately” because it meant that even though I had terminated my own relationship with Rogers I still had to deal with hers.

Let’s skip ahead a bit. I am now a loyal Telus customer. The people at the Telus place in Tsawwassen (they own one in Ladner too) are amazing! I love them. They have fixed every issue with a smile and have always been friendly and courteous. And these people are young women! Not older men who should know how to behave.

October 2010 marked the end of my daughter’s 3 year Rogers imprisonment. Yesterday I went in to the store to cancel her account and find out why her $35/mo cel phone was billed at $122. I told the man, Michael, that I would be cancelling the account.

“Here’s the number for Rogers. You’ll have to call them from your land-line.” Apparently Michael wasn’t listening at all because I did mention that it was my daughter’s phone I’d be cancelling but I let that slide. (I could always call from the phone in my hand Michael. Or, better yet, since it takes 30 days to cancel I could probably use the cel phone too.)

I said “thanks” and “could you explain to me why her $35 bill is $122 when we just paid $100 last month please?”

To which he responded…are you ready…this is great (but not the best thing he said by far) “very briefly I can” A comment which I took to mean “I have no time for you because I’m too busy sitting her looking busy and important when really I’m just thinking about getting you out of my store as fast as possible.”

So, at this point I’d been at this store several times with horrendous customer service and I’d had it. I said “wow, you know what? I have never had good customer service in here.” (please keep in mind that I think that Michael is the owner of the franchise so you’d think this is info he’d want to know.)

And now, my loyal readers, is the pièce de résistance. He replied “Then perhaps you should stop coming in then.”

Ah Rogers, I’m so sorry that you have someone like Michael as the face of your company in Tsawwassen. I posted my experience on Facebook and received no fewer than 6 comments from others with similar experiences.

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17 Comments

First off, thanks for sharing your story. It’s unfortunate that you’ve had some of these experience at a Rogers Wireless store over the past 3 years, and for that I apologize on our company’s behalf.

Jacquie, I’m going to take your post and share it internally – I hope that’s alright with you. We appreciate this type of feedback from our customers (and former customers!) and I’m sorry we weren’t able to do more for you.

I am extremely happy that we have always been able to help you out. At CMS, we take pride in client experience; we put ourselves in your shoes which helps us provide sound advice for your communication needs. Every time you come to our stores, it is our pleasure to serve you. Thank you so much for this post. As a company this is the most rewarding feeling: to see happy satisfied clients. Again thanks and have a great day. Hope to see you soon.

While it is 2011, I want to share that this customer experience is not limited to a store. I have been a Rogers cell phone customer since 1999 under a corporate plan. I have renewed and upgraded my phone accordingly and only after retiring did I let it lapse awaiting for better technology but continued to be a customer in good standing. As I was out of town a lot, I emailed customer service and asked someone from customer loyalty to contact me. In December, I called Rogers to discuss upgrding to the Android and had a price plan code in hand. To make it short, the customer retention rep did not appear to interested in working with me, in fact offered less than the posted on line plan and quoted me a higher phone cost than the posted on line price. When I asked about customer loyalty, he kept reiterating the plan he offered was the best and he was not prepared to meet anything that Bell was willing to offer. I mentioned it looked like I would get a better offer as a new Rogers customer off the street than an existing one. He basically agreed….when I asked the call to be escalated, he indicated I could talk to Rogers Sales. Retiring from a service industry and after being a long term Rogers’ customer, I found this conversation very unsatisfactory. In this day where Canadian cell costs are the highest and there is suspicions of gouging, when there are so many more options available not to mention the alignment to better technology, Rogers needs to coach their customer retention staff better. The vendors I have been talking to are willing to “steal” me. I will be moving to another service provider by the end of the week.

Thanks for your note Karen. We have since moved everything over to Telus and are very happy with their customer service. I think Rogers is going to crap customer service themselves right into the ground. One can hope. At least we have an outlet to warn others. I have never heard back from Rogers to follow up on their comments here. I wonder if they ever shared the story internally as they said they would.

I feel your pain, Jax, as I’m sure you recall from the infamous Bell Mobility call that occured while we shared an office. I have to say as a loyal Rogers customer for the past few years that I’ve never been disappointed with their service, but every situation is different. Glad you’re on a plan you like and they’re treating you well. And hey, if you ever need someone to rip a strip off of a CSR, you know I’m your girl.

I agree with the poor “I don’t care ” attitude of the higher ups at Rogers. I had an agreed plan for 3 phones for my family/a plan agreed to by their Customer Relations who are above the retention who have the authuority to give and offer special pricing. I went to one of their stores to get the hardware upgrade adn change plans to data and all the other bells and whistles and they said it only applied to two accounts not the third one. I explained to Byron how I dealt with another person 2 days ealrier and everything was taken care of. They also want to chage me an admin fee of $35 for each account to renew. Why do I have to pay to be a customer? He repeated it was only for two accounts and that I wouldn’t take my business anywhere else because it would cost too much to break the remaining contract on the 3rd phone. He wouldn’t let me to talk to a supervisor or manager saying they will do the same thing. Guess what? I literally went across the street to Telus and they are prepared to give almost double of what Rogers provides, waive the admin fee and in 3 months credit the differenc eplus a few hundred more I credit to sign on with them. So in theory it will cost me nothing to break the Rogers contract and I get a few months free service. To Rogers- “Say hello to my little friend”. 🙂

That’s great Stan! thanks for sharing this. It important that Rogers be held accountable for their dreadful customer service. (though, I did finally have some satisfaction, it took a great deal of effort and levels of CSR to get there)

Thanks to all for sharing your stories, I’m facing the same situation. My contract ends tomorrow, Jan 6, 2011, and I have been with Rogers for 9 and half years.

My tenant, who is with Telus for 10 years, has way better plan than myself. He has twice as much basic airtime, plus 6 add-on features for free, and only pays $30/month + GST and paper billing fee. No system access fee nor emergency call fee. I am paying $50+/month. When I called Rogers last night, they told me that there is no way that they can match Telus’ plan and feel free to go to Telus. They also mentioned that if I want to transfer my number, I will need 30 day notice, which means if I switch tomorrow, I will have to pay them for another month.

Rogers DO NOT value its long time/loyal customers at all, period! Very frustrating experience with Rogers, you have been warned!!

I have been with telus for 12yrs. I agree that Telus has decent customer service but this past week I got very bad service from a representative who told me that it is my perogative to switch provider. Overtime my contract is up for renewal I have to negotiate. Wouldn’t it be better for Telus to offer their loyal existing clients a loyalty discount of some form. They treat new clients better service than loyal clients

I agree to the fact that telus tease the new customers (they all do) but when I lost my new phone, after been with them for the past 8 years, I looked online to see what I could do. The site said I could have discounted prices, for another phone. I called them, but the guy (they like to call themselves reps) told me that this applied only to new customers. What the f++++ the site said I was going to have help (price wise).
Im back with my old shitty phone untill my renewed contract is over, then beleive me Im going to try another compagny. Im in quebec by the way and the competition betwen telus and roger seem to be the same here (to me).

I have been with Rogers since 1992. I believe that would make me a loyal customer. However, I don’t feel that I am treated as such in the Maple Ridge Rogers store or when I wait for over an hour for Rogers’ customer service (before I actually hang up to do something else with my life). I don’t know if the other carrier’s customers have the same issue but recently, I’ve had more dropped/failed calls than ever before. As well, my husband and I have a family plan and often don’t receive sent texts from one another. It’s been ridiculous, really.

I have been with Roger’s for the last 9 years for my mobile(s). Their customer service in store in my area (Calgary) isn’t nearly as bad as their customer service call center. I cannot WAIT until my 3 yr. 3 phone plan is expired, I will be RUNNING to Telus when I can afford the early cancellation fee. I use Telus for home phone/TV/internet, and they are great, with top notch customer service!

I had been with Rogers since I was in grade 8, and now in my final year of university… you’d think I’d have earned at least a few loyalty points. My contract was up Feb 2013 and my blackberry was absolute crap (Curve 8900; ancient)…and so I wanted to get the new iphone 5. Dealing with them over the phone was horrendous. And in store, at Coquitlam mall, they were just useless.

Moreover, they were going to charge me more just to stay with them and get a new phone then what it would cost me to cancel my contract with them and move to Telus. So I decided it was worth it to make the switch and I am now the brand new owner of an iphone 5, and in spite of Telus’ difficulties yesterday at the release of the new phone (Rogers was also down, though) I am completely happy with them. They must have been tired and frustrated, yet they never let that on to me, and instead we SO helpful and apologetic about the wait. For the first 10 months my bill is 10 bucks cheaper…and they also give you a bonus 5000 scene points. Free movie night(s)? I think so. It’s the little things like that that makes Telus wonderful. I can’t believe I didn’t listen to my sisters and make the switch sooner.

Plus, their commercials are SO cute…tell me those baby piggies and cheetahs don’t make you smile?!

Have been fighting with rogers all day put on hold for 30 minutes by a rep who came back screaming at me because I was still on the line. The store messed up and rogers refuses to fix the problem. My bill is outrages when the store signed up my new phone. First new phone was a lemon had to buy another phone at my expense and still can’t get service on it. Been treated better by everyone will NEVER use rogers again

I have been a Rogers customer in Toronto for about 15 years. Currently I have all the channels and the ultimate internet package and always go over the max GB/month, so my monthly bill is about $400. Pretty good customer I’d say. I have been having issues with my internet connection dropping especially in bad weather. 4 months ago I had a technician come out, he checked everything and said the issue was the connection coming from the pole outside and that he would place a request for service. No one ever came out, but during the summer we had great weather, so my connection was fine and I forgot about it. Fall came and the issue returned. I called Rogers and indicated the same issue, they said they had to send a technician out. I figured 4 months since the last one, OK. Technician came out confirmed the same issue and indicated he would be sending someone out to go up the pole per se. A couple weeks passed, Internet was fine, so I assumed the guy came out when I was at work. During Sandy and ever since my connection has been dropping several times a day more so when the weather is bad. Called Rogers back again, indicated we had 2 technicians come out and both indicated problem at the pole and that they would send someone out and both times no one came out. The rep wanted to send out another technician out causing me to loose another day of work or write off another weekend day. Asked to speak to a manager, he indicated same, had to send out yet another technician. Asked to speak to managers manager, he indicated they were not in. After being on the phone for over an hour, I hung up in frustration.

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